If you can believe it, actress, author and comedian Karyn Parsons turns 60 today. She was born on October 8, 1966, in Los Angeles, California.
The star is, of course, known best for her memorable role as Hilary Banks in the iconic 1990s sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
Hilary was the spoiled cousin of Will Smith’s eponymous character and the daughter of the late James Avery’s Philip Banks and Vivian Banks, who was played by both Janet Hubert-Whitten and Daphne Maxwell Reid.
Notably, Parsons also played Hilary in crossover episodes of both “Blossom” and “Out All Night.”
However, playing Hilary was far from the only notable role in her career. As she becomes a sexagenarian, let’s take a look at Karyn Parsons back then and compare her to how she looks now.
The 1990s
The 1990s was undoubtedly Karyn Parsons’ most fruitful decade as an actress. Having made her screen debut with a handful of minor roles in the late 1980s, the ’90s saw her land several roles on both the big and small screens.
Movie-wise, she appeared in 1992’s comedy “Class Act,” 1995’s military comedy “Major Payne,” and 1998’s comedy-drama “Mixing Nia.”
On television, she landed her most memorable role as Hilary Banks, but also appeared on sitcom “The John Larroquette Show,” American-British miniseries “Gulliver’s Travels,” sitcom “Lush Life,” soap opera “Melrose Place,” and comedy-drama series “Linc’s.”
The 2000s
In the 2000s, Parsons appeared in two movies. They were the 2000 sex comedy “The Ladies Man” and the 2002 comedy-drama “13 Moons.”
Television-wise, she landed a main role on the single-camera sitcom “The Job” and voiced a character in an episode of the animated superhero series “Static Shock.”
The 2010s
Parsons took time out in the 2010s to raise her two children with her filmmaker husband Alexandre Rockwell. However, we have sourced a single picture of her from the decade.
Above, she can be seen with her “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” co-star Joseph Marcell, who played the Banks’ sarcastic British butler Geoffrey Butler in the show.
Karyn Parsons Today
Today, after enjoying some time out from her career, Parsons is back in action and looking as beautiful as ever.
In the image above, taken from her own Instagram account (where she has 369,000 followers), she is promoting her book “Blue Beach,” which was released earlier this year.
Per GoodReads.com, “this gripping mystery follows a teenager who finds a murdered girl on her family’s California beach—a discovery that will reveal the racism, segregation, and colorism rampant in her world.”
The 2020s have also seen Parsons return to acting. She has appeared in the 2020 drama movie “Sweet Thing” and the 2026 crime thriller movie “The Projectionist.”
She has no upcoming acting projects confirmed, but we look forward to potentially seeing her on our screens again soon.
It’s wonderful to see Karyn Parsons looking so fabulous at 60. We’d like to take this opportunity to wish her a wonderful 60th birthday. We hope she has the most fantastic day spending quality time with her nearest and dearest.
Karyn Parsons’ filmography was courtesy of IMDb.
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Karyn Parsons, ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s’ Hilary Banks, Turns 60 — See Her Then & Now [PHOTOS]